Pepper extracts and their chemical equivalents are widely used throughout the food industry. They are commercially available in combination with soybean oil and in combination with propylene glycol. Some varieties, such as oleoresin capsicum, are available as neat oils.
Aside from their obvious uses in the food industry, pepper extracts have been shown to be useful in pharmaceutical applications. Likewise, others claim to have used naturally occurring pepper extracts and their chemical equivalents effectively as active agents in lachrymator formulations for self-defence devices. These pepper formulations have proven to be effective substitutes for MACE.RTM. and other man-made chemical agents used to debilitate attackers and threatening animals.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,708 describes a sprayable CAPSICUM LACHRYMATOR. The formulations of the '708 patent address a number of shortcomings in similar prior art devices. For example, the '708 formulations do not contain FREON.RTM. or other chlorinated fluorocarbon (CFC) propellant. Evidence that CFCs deplete the ozone layer has led to widespread restrictions on the availability and use of CFCs as propellants.
Pepper extract lachrymators have been shown to be more effective than the man made lachrymators against crazed or drug-induced attackers. In addition to their more broad spectrum of use, these lachrymators, when properly formulated, are more humanitarian tools as they are non-toxic and their effect is temporary and entirely reversible.
As the '708 patent demonstrates, however, devising the proper balance of active ingredients, carrier and propellant for capsicum-based aerosol lachrymators is a difficult task. Of the fifteen examples shown in the '708 patent, only one formulation was reported to be satisfactory and did not result in settling, separation of the ingredients, or inadequate dispersion of the resulting mixture.
It is an object of the present invention to provide lachrymator formulations that are stable mixtures. It is another object of the present invention to provide lachrymator formulations that can be aerosolized and dispersed effectively and reliably. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide lachrymator formulations that contain effective, non-toxic, and environmentally compatible propellant systems.